NEWMAN, Calif – Patricio Kearney represented Orestimba High at the 37th annual California Interscholastic Federation State Cross-Country Championships on Saturday.

Running the 2.1-miles course at Woodward Park in Fresno, Kearney, a senior, finished with a time of 15 minutes, 48.6 seconds for a 22nd place finish in the Division IV boys race. There were 204 runners in this division.

Kearney advanced to the state meet by his strong finish at the Sac-Joaquin Section Cross-Country Championships at the Willow Hill course on the Folsom High campus on Nov. 16. He took second place in the D-IV boys race, clocked at 16:17.6.

“Congratulations to Patricio Kearney for representing OHS at the California State Cross Country Championships in Fresno on Saturday,” Orestimba High said in a released statement. “Pat broke his own school record with a time of 15:48 which was good for 22nd place in a race of the top 200 boys from the entire state of California in Division IV.  That beat the previous school record of 16:00 in the same race from 1987.  His time also is the 15th best time for Stanislaus Country runners all-time.  Pat was only the third runner in Orestimba history to make it to state, and he should be considered the best runner in school history.”

Samantha De La Cruz

Competing at the section championships for the Warriors was Samantha De La Cruz, who also competed at the D-IV girls race. She took 12th place with a time of 20:18.1.

The top five individuals, both girls and boys, of whom were not part of a team that finished in the top three of D-IV teams advanced to the state meet that ended the season.

Mike Bush is a multimedia journalist who was born and raised in the Stanislaus and Merced County areas. Follow him on X/Twitter @MikeBMultimedia and Instagram @mikebushphotography.